Twitter 'withholds' journalist Rana Ayyub's account in India

"As Twitter strongly believes in defending and respecting the voice of the people who use our service, it is our policy to notify account holders if we receive a legal request from an authorized entity (such law enforcement or government agency) to remove content from their account. We provide notice whether or not the user lives in the country where the request originated," the notice from Twitter read.

New Delhi: Journalist Rana Ayyub has posted a notice from Twitter which informed her that the microblogging site has withheld her account in India under Information Technology Act, 2000. Ayyub on Sunday took to her Twitter account to post the notice and said: "Hello @Twitter, what exactly is this?"

The notice from Twitter that Ayyub shared read: "In order to comply with Twitter's obligations under India's local laws, we have withheld the following account in India under the country's Information Technology Act, 2000: the content remains available elsewhere."

"As Twitter strongly believes in defending and respecting the voice of the people who use our service, it is our policy to notify account holders if we receive a legal request from an authorized entity (such law enforcement or government agency) to remove content from their account. We provide notice whether or not the user lives in the country where the request originated," it read.

In response to Ayyb's tweet, tennis legend Martina Navaratolina said: "So who is next?!? Just awful..." She tagged Rana Ayyub and Twitter on her post. Former CEO of Prasar Bharati, Shashi Shekhar Vempati said that the notice by Twitter could be "either a bug or a delayed reaction to past incidents."

Vempati tweeted: "Noticed many hyperventilating tweets regarding so called online censorship by Govt of India via @TwitterIndia . It either seems to be a bug or a delayed reaction to past incidents for I too have received such an email from @Twitter overnight for the incident last year."

The former Prasar Bharti CEO also shared an email with a similar message that he had received. Alluding to the Twitter posting by Rana Ayyub, Vempati tweeted: "Including an account withheld in India message from @Twitter @TwitterIndia. Perhaps the "celebrity Islamophobia Activist" can pipe down and stop claiming victimhood."